BLUE HILL METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORY MILTON, MASSACHUSETTS ELEVATION 635 FEET, 10 MILES SSW OF BOSTON, MA DAILY DISCUSSION AND CLIMATE SUMMARY THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2020 ALL TIMES ARE IN EASTERN STANDARD TIME MILDER WITH INCREASING VISIBILITY AND DECREASING CLOUDS.... Today we observed partly cloudy weather with lighter winds in comparison to yesterday. Wind was southwesterly with an average speed of 15 mph, and a max gust of 30 mph happening much later in the afternoon. Cloud cover went down as the day went on, going from overcast this morning to less than 2/8ths by the 1 P.M. observation. Visibility was again limited by a distant haze that dissipated slightly in the afternoon, allowing the observer to see 60 miles.   Total rainfall for last year was 56.89 inches, which is 3.45 inches more than the normal annual amount. We experienced 20 inches of snowfall so far this season, with 19.9 inches of it falling in December. That is 4 inches above normal for the first 2 months of winter. Temperatures were again slightly milder today, thanks to abundant sunshine this afternoon. The low since midnight is 29F, 10 degrees above the normal low of 19F. The high so far today is 38F, 3 degrees above the daily normal maximum of 35F.   Today's Observations: 7 A.M. Weather: Overcast altocumulus Temperature: 29F; Dew Point: 22F; Wind: SW at 10G16 kts Sea-level pressure: 29.89 ins. Hg, falling, then rising Visibility: 35 miles, distant haze 6-hr Max temp: 31F 6-hr Min temp: 29F 24-hr Precip:  0.0 ins. 24-hr Snowfall: 0.0 ins. BHO SA 1155 E180 OVC 35 124/29/22/2310G16/989/ DSNT HZ ALQDS/ 8/07/ 53016 10031 20029 10 A.M. Weather: Broken altocumulus and cirrostratus Temperature: 34F; Dew Point: 22F; Wind: SW at 10 kts Sea-level pressure: 29.92 ins. Hg, falling then rising Visibility: 40 miles, distant haze 3-hr Precip:  0.00 ins. 3-hr Snowfall: 0.0 ins. BHO SA 1455 E160 BKN 250 BKN 40 134/34/22/2310/992/ DSNT HZ ALQDS/ 8/078 51010 1 P.M. Weather: Scattered altocumulus and cirrostratus Temperature: 42F; Dew Point: 22F; Wind: SSW at 11G20 kts Sea-level pressure: 29.86 ins. Hg, falling, then more slowly Visibility: 60 miles 6-hr Max temp: 44F 6-hr Min temp: 29F 6-hr Precip:  0.00 ins. 6-hr Snowfall: 0.0 ins. BHO SA 1755 180 SCT 250 SCT 60 115/42/22/2211G20/986/ 8/078 58019 10044 20029 SUMMARY FOR WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 1, 2020 TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F) MAX.....38   NORMAL.....35 MIN.....30   NORMAL.....19 MEAN....34   NORMAL.....27 DEPARTURE FROM 30-YEAR NORMAL......................+7 TOTAL DEPARTURE FOR THE MONTH......................+7 [+6.8 DEGREES/DAY] HEATING DEGREE DAYS (SEASON JUL TO JUN) TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR YESTERDAY...............31  DEPARTURE........-7 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE MONTH...............31  DEPARTURE........-7 TOTAL HEATING UNITS FOR THE SEASON............2282  DEPARTURE.......-61 TOTAL HEATING UNITS LAST SEASON TO DATE.......2318  DEPARTURE.......-36 PEAK GUST AND AVERAGE WIND SPEED (MPH) PEAK WIND GUST FOR YESTERDAY....................39 W   AT 12:01 P.M.                      AERO.........................38 W   AT 12:01 P.M.                      ASOS.........................39 WNW AT 12:00 P.M.                    DAVIS........................41 WNW AT 11:58 A.M. RMY 41 FASTEST MILE FOR YESTERDAY......................29 W   AT 11:32 A.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE ASOS AVERAGE...................28 W   AT 11:30 A.M. MAXIMUM 2-MINUTE DAVIS AVERAGE..................29 W   AT 11:29 A.M. AVERAGE WIND SPEED AND DIRECTION..............16.4 W                                      ASOS.......................15.7                    DAVIS......................16.9 W [274 deg.] PRECIPITATION (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL PRECIPITATION 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M....0.00  DEPARTURE......-0.15                          ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE MONTH..........0.00  DEPARTURE......-0.15                          ASOS..............0.00 TOTAL PRECIPITATION FOR THE YEAR...........0.00  DEPARTURE......-0.15                          ASOS..............0.00 SNOWFALL (INCHES) THROUGH THIS MORNING (EST) TOTAL SNOWFALL 24 HRS ENDING 7 A.M..........0.0  DEPARTURE.......-0.6 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE MONTH................0.0  DEPARTURE.......-0.6 TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THE SEASON..............20.0  DEPARTURE.......+3.4 PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER CALENDAR DAY DATA DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/PEAK GUST/AERO/RMY GUST AERO: Aerovane wind recording system gust RMY:  R.M. Young wind gust recording system TSTM: Thunderstorm day (thunder heard some time during day) ....: Data not yet available, records not finalized M:    Missing data 12/01  32/16/24/-13/..../5.8/011/02           33 ENE AERO 32 ENE RMY N/A 12/02  37/25/31/-5/..../2.7/000/00            52 NE  AERO 47 NE  RMY 53 12/03  30/23/27/-9/..../4.6/000/00            32 N   AERO 35 N   RMY 36 12/04  34/22/28/-7/..../0.0/000/00            23 WNW AERO 23 NNW RMY N/A 12/05  41/26/34/-1/..../0.0/343/62            33 NW  AERO 35 NW  RMY 37 12/06  33/23/28/-7/0.02/0.1/000/00            25 NW  AERO 23 NW  RMY 29 12/07  31/18/25/-9/0.00/0.0/519/94            25 NW  AERO 23 NW  RMY N/A 12/08  36/15/26/-8/0.00/0.0/402/73            31 SSW AERO 32 SSW RMY N/A 12/09  57/36/47/+13/..../0.0/000/00           53 S   AERO 52 S   RMY 54 12/10  58/37/48/+15/..../0.0/044/08           35 SW  AERO 39 SW  RMY N/A 12/11  36/23/30/-3/..../3.0/236/43            25 NW  AERO 25 NW  RMY N/A 12/12  29/17/23/-10/..../1.8/488/89           29 W   AERO 30 W   RMY 25 12/13  46/22/34/+2/..../0.0/000/00            25 SSE AERO 25 SSE RMY N/A 12/14  58/46/52/+20/..../0.0/000/00           45 S   AERO 41 S   RMY N/A 12/15  48/28/38/+6/0.00/0.0/284/52            53 W   AERO 53 W   RMY 50 12/16  30/25/28/-3/0.00/0.0/000/00            36 W   AERO 36 W   RMY N/A 12/17  35/23/29/-2/..../1.0/000/00            22 NNW AERO 21 NE  RMY 23 12/18  33/18/26/-5/.../0.0/229/42             44 WNW AERO 45 WNW RMY N/A 12/19  20/9/15/-15/.../0.0/534/98             51 W   AERO 47 W   RMY N/A 12/20  29/11/20/-10/0.00/0.0/540/99           32 W   AERO 30 W   RMY 29 12/21  31/16/24/-6/0.00/0.0/163/30            16 SSE AERO 15 SSE RMY N/A 12/22  40/26/33/+4/0.00/0.0/..../..           23 SW  AERO 21 SW  RMY 23 12/23  54/33/44/+15/0.00/0.0/..../..          30 WSW AERO 30 SW  RMY 30 12/24  42/29/36/+7/0.00/0.0/..../..           30 NW  AERO 27 NW  RMY 30 12/25  42/25/34/+6/0.00/0.0/..../..           16 NNE AERO 16 N   RMY N/A 12/26  39/29/34/+6/0.00/0.0/..../..           22 ENE AERO 20 ENE RMY 22 12/27  47/31/39/+11/0.00/0.0/..../..          32 SSW AERO 30 SSW RMY 34 12/28  47/30/39/+11/0.00/0.0/..../..          23 W   AERO 22 W   RMY N/A 12/29  42/28/35/+8/..../0.0/..../..           22 WNW AERO 21 WNW RMY 23 12/30  36/32/34/+7/..../0.8/..../..           40 E   AERO 37 E   RMY 37 12/31  40/32/36/+9/..../0.0/..../..           35 E   AERO 32 E   RMY N/A     PRELIMINARY CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR JANUARY CALENDAR DAY DATA DATE: MAX/MIN/MEAN/DEP/PRECIP/SNOW/SUN(MIN.)/SUN(%)/PEAK GUST/AERO/RMY GUST AERO: Aerovane wind recording system gust RMY:  R.M. Young wind gust recording system TSTM: Thunderstorm day (thunder heard some time during day) ....: Data not yet available, records not finalized M:    Missing data 01/01  38/30/34/+7/..../0.0/..../..           39 W   AERO 38 W   RMY 41 01/02  The low since midnight is 30F, daily normal minimum is 19F DAILY RECORDS FOR DECEMBER 12/01/19: DAILY RECORD SNOWFALL OF 5.8 INS.,           BREAKS PREVIOUS RECORD OF 2.0 INS. SET IN 1902. DAILY EXTREMES Temperature and precipitation records back to 1885, and wind records back to 1940 (e = estimated):   RECORDS FOR JANUARY 2 HIGH 62F IN 1890 LOW -7F IN 1899,1918 PRECIP 2.10 INS. IN 1987 SNOWFALL 9.0 INS. IN 1904 PEAK GUST 85e MPH S IN 1942 RECORDS FOR JANUARY 3 HIGH 64F IN 2000 LOW -4F IN 1904 PRECIP 1.93 INS. IN 1999 SNOW 11.3 INS. 1996 PEAK GUST 92 MPH S IN 1960 TODAY'S REPORT PREPARED BY: Benjamin Turner